How a Hostel Software Boosts Your Online Reputation
To celebrate our recent attendance at the 2016 HostelSkills conference in sunny Barcelona, we’ve taken a deeper look into hostel reputation management. Most businesses accept that online reputation management is an important part of their business strategy. But how do online reviews affect hostel owners? In this digital age, travellers can easily compare you to your competitors. By utilising a powerful hostel software to manage your reputation, you will be able to generate more reviews and to increase your online visibility.
Let´s take a look at the importance of online reviews and how you can attract more guests to your hostel.
Why are online reviews so important for your hostel reputation management?
Online reputation management involves monitoring how current and potential guests perceive your business. Think of your own purchasing behaviour. How often do you land on a product page and scroll straight to the bottom to read customer reviews? Well you’re not alone:
- a whopping 81% of travellers always or frequently read reviews before booking a place to stay (1)
- over 50% will choose not to book a hotel that doesn’t have online reviews (2)
These figures speak for themselves. The old days of top-down sales and marketing are over. Simply projecting your message onto the consumer is no longer effective. Instead, consumers now actively search and compare online.
How can a hostel software help your business?
With reviews playing such an important role, how can you generate more reviews? And how can you use reviews to improve your online reputation and increase bookings?
A hostel software for online reputation management allows you to:
- Prompt your guests to review their stay by sending them a customizable feedback form after check-out
- Collect, centralise and manage all reviews in one easy to use platform
- Comment on reviews to increase engagement
- Distribute reviews to leading portals such as trivago, TripAdvisor, Google, Facebook, etc.
- Integrate reviews directly into your hostel’s website to build trust, boost SEO rankings and increase direct bookings
How to distribute reviews with a hostel software?
You have been providing an excellent services and invited your guests to share a review? Now you need to ensure that you get the most out of them.
Distributing reviews to leading platforms boosts your visibility across the internet. For example, a hostel software like Customer Alliance gives you the option to direct guests with a gmail account directly to Google. These reviews will also be featured on Google Maps.
Besides, Google rewards reviews featured on third-party sites. Especially those that are reputable and popular. That´s why a hostel software allows you to distribute ratings to a range of review platforms. Not only to enhance your online reputation, but also to please Google’s ranking algorithm.
Example of Google Reviews in Google Maps
How to handle negative reviews?
It’s inevitable that you’re going to receive negative reviews. However, it’s negative reviews that present a real opportunity to manage your online reputation.
- stunning 87% of those surveyed agreed that management’s response to a negative review improved their perception of the hotel (3)
- and 62% said that a hotel’s response to a negative review influenced their decision to make a booking (3)
If you do receive negative feedback, try to find out exactly what went wrong. And then reply accordingly. A bad review without any response looks suspect and encourages people to speculate. Reply honestly and transparently to the guest. Attempt to fix the problem or offer a compensation. People are much more likely to excuse you if they feel being taken seriously. Ideally, they even book again a room in your hostel if they have received a sincere reaction.
Besides, you can learn from negative reviews. There is always room for improvement.
To sum up
Hostel reputation management is vital for the success of your business. Online reviews are influencing the decision of travellers tremendously. Therefore, boost your online visibility by generating more reviews. Invite your guests to share a review after their stay and make sure to distribute these reviews to leading portals. It is worth investing in a hostel software to make as simple and efficient as possible.
Would you like to take control of your online reputation? Then schedule your personal, free consultation with one of our experts.
- Online Reviews Remain a Trusted Source of Information When Booking Trips, Reveals New Research (Tripadvisor)
- Survey Finds Half of TripAdvisor Users Will Not Book a Hotel that Has No Reviews (Tripadvisor)
- How to Add Management Responses to Tripadvisor Traveler Reviews (Tripadvisor)
